


Listen, mate! aka 5 Times Fitz Took Hunter's Advice and One Time He Didn't

by stjarna



Series: Writing Prompts / Drabbles / Requests [45]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Focus is Fitz & Hunter, Gen, Last part Hunter & Simmons, Romantic Fitzsimmons as background story, Tumblr Prompt, canon-compliant MCD mentioned in last part (per prompter request)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 00:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15327939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Based on this tumble prompt: I have a prompt for you! Would you be interested in writing Fitz & Hunter (sorry, I don't know their ship name)? Specifically: "5 Times Fitz Took Hunter's Advice and One Time He Didn't." (The one time being "Don't die out there, Mate.") Romantic, platonic, whatever. It's all good. :-)Note: I chose platonic, because Fitz&Hunter is a pairing that I have an extremely hard time writing as a romantic ship because they're just my No. 1 BROTP.





	1. First Time: 2x04 “I Will Face My Enemy”

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to @dilkirani for the beta.
> 
> This basically turned into a series of 'missing scenes', all but one portraying Hunter as FitzSimmons shipper No. 2 (No. 1 still going to Daisy ;) )

Hunter walked down the hallway, six-pack of Bendeery—best beer in the world—in hand. He pushed the door to the lab open.

“Guys, drop everything,” he announced himself loudly.

“No, this is worth a fortune. I'm not gonna drop it,” Fitz said deadpan, looking at whatever sciency-metal-tubey-thingy he was holding.

Hunter stopped in his movements, the bottle of beer he’d just pulled from the cardboard carrier now hanging halfway between its point of origin and destination.

“Just put it down,” he told the Scottish engineer, trying to come to terms with how the young scientist seemed to struggle with figures of speech. He put one bottle down on the counter, before handing Mack another.

The mechanic accepted the offering, but looked at it in mild confusion. “What's all this?”

Hunter grabbed a bottle for himself, before placing the rest of the six-pack down on one of the work stations. “We survived a HYDRA attack, saved the Bus. I turned out to be a genius at mechanical engineering. Calls for a celebration.”

“I like the way you think,” Mack replied.

Fitz slowly walked closer, staring at the bottle that Hunter had left on the counter for him. “Um, no, actually,” he muttered, before turning halfway back around to where he’d come from. “I should probably, um—”

“Fitz,” Hunter called out, fanning his arms to the side. “This team wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. This is big. Let me buy you a beer, mate.”

There was a pause, but slowly the Scottish engineer turned back and grabbed the bottle, staring at it like it was technology he’d never seen before.

“We haven't gotten to work together much yet,” Hunter told him, as Fitz slowly sat down in a chair, “but I thought this was a successful mission. And if we keep up with this teamwork, there will be more successful missions and plenty more beer, plenty more—”

“Yeah, hey, so, um, I don't have an ex,” Fitz interrupted him, gesturing with his thumb, “but there was this girl that I like, and I told her how I felt, but she doesn't feel the same way as I do, so she left.”

Hunter stared wide-eyed and opened-mouthed at the young engineer, who played with the twist of his beer, a hint of an almost proud smile playing on his lips. Hunter glanced at Mack, who looked back at him knowingly.

“Her loss, then, mate,” Hunter exclaimed, fanning his arms out to the side. “From what I can see, she's missing out.”

He raised his bottle. “To moving on.”

Mack silently joined in the toast.

After a pause, Fitz raised his bottle as well. “Yeah. Moving on.”

Hunter twisted his bottle open, watching Fitz and Mack do the same.

“Though, listen, mate—” he addressed the Scotsman, taking a swig from his beer, before using the bottle to point at Fitz, “—piece of advice: Never say never.”

Hunter shrugged. “I mean, could be she doesn’t feel the same way, could be she never will, but feelings, mate, feelings are a complicated mess and some people just need longer to see what’s right in front of them. So, she doesn’t like you now, that’s fine and it’s good to accept it and move on, but also… if the wind ever changes, don’t close the door, ‘cause some things are meant to be and you don’t even know it.”


	2. Second Time: 2x18 “The Frenemy of My Enemy”

Hunter heard Fitz struggle putting the gun into his holster, the heavy sigh, the fear in the tremor of his voice when he spoke. “This is crazy.”

Fitz closed the chest with anger and Hunter looked up when he noticed the engineer pace nervously to the back of the plane.

“We wanna find Skye, yes, okay?” Fitz said, waving his hands horizontally across the ground, before gesturing wildly. “But we are making a deal with—”

“The devil.” Hunter bobbed his head in confirmation.

Fitz dropped his hands in resignation, lowering his gaze to the floor.

“I'm afraid it's in the job description, mate,” Hunter added. “Expedient alliances with despicable characters.” Hunter moved the crate to the side.

“You'd work with Bobbi?” Fitz asked from where he’d sat down on one of the quinjet’s seats.

“No, not a chance. And point made,” Hunter replied, sitting down as well, and interlacing his hands, resting them on his knees. “Look, mate, we're infiltrating HYDRA. Our options are limited. Ward is a psychopath, but for now, he's our psychopath, so we use him to stay one step ahead.”

Fitz eyed him silently for a moment, anxiety still visible in his eyes, in the tension of his muscles. “What if something goes wrong?”

Hunter leaned back, stretching out his legs and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Something always goes wrong. You adjust. You have a plan B, and C, and D.”

Fitz sighed, beginning to massage his left palm with the thumb of his right hand. “Wonder what would have happened if they’d caught me. If I hadn’t been able to shake that tail.”

Hunter fanned his arms to the side. “Hey, you took my advice. You take my advice, you stay perfectly safe.” He pursed his lips, waving his hand in Fitz’s direction. “And surely you have some kind of emergency plan in place if you ever get caught?”

Fitz didn’t reply, just stared back at Hunter with wide-open doe eyes.

“Mate!” Hunter exclaimed, not quite believing what Fitz’s silence implied. He sat straight up, waving his index finger at Fitz. “You need an emergency plan. You need to find someone you can trust, you make a plan, you have each other’s backs!”

Fitz slouched down in his seat, crossing his arms defensively in front of himself. “Yeah, that would have been Simmons,” he muttered, quietly, “but can’t really make a plan with her now, what with her staying behind and giving me an escape.”

“Alright, so, here’s what we do. We make a plan!”

Fitz furrowed his brow. “We?”

“Yes,” Hunter confirmed, waving his finger back and forth between himself and the engineer, “you and me, mate. You like football, right?”

Fitz still looked at Hunter in mild confusion. “Yeah, Man U.”

“Man— _What_?” Hunter yelled in disbelief, before raising both hands apologetically. “Alright, one argument at a time. Listen, mate, here’s what we do. If one of us ever gets locked up—” Hunter pursed his lips. “Captors can be stupid. They try to play nice—to a certain degree—to get you to cooperate. So, you play along, give them what they want without actually giving them what they want. And then, you make random but harmless requests. Like a TV to watch some footie, because what’s more harmless than letting an innocent, sweet scientist like you watch some sports? And then you write a letter to Ballbuster Hooligans.”

“Ballbuster Hooligans??” Fitz asked, his forehead wrinkled.

“Yeah, mate, they print any garbage that gets sent their way. Write a letter, in code—we’ll have to come up with some good code later—and voila I bust you out… and vice versa.”

“Ballbuster Hooligans?” Fitz repeated, slower this time and still utterly confused.

“Telling you mate, Ballbuster’s gonna bust us right out of prison!”


	3. Third Time: Post-2x22 “S.O.S. Part 2”

Hunter leaned against the doorframe to the lab, looking at the sad picture in front of him. It hadn’t changed much over the past four days. Fitz’s hair had maybe gotten a bit greasy, his stubble a bit longer, but he still stared at the screen the same way, with razor-sharp focus, sadness, and longing.

Fitz balled his hands into fists, his eyes blinking rapidly, when the rock on the screen dissolved, pulling Simmons with it, showing her trying to claw at the concrete floor, screaming in panic.

Hunter pushed himself off the doorframe. “You’ve watched it a billion times, mate. Take a break.”

The engineer turned around, obviously startled by Hunter’s interruption. His eyes immediately returned to the screen in front of him as he put the video on repeat. “I’m missing something.”

Hunter stopped next to Fitz, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Take a break. Look at it again tomorrow. Fresh eyes. Billion and first time’s the charm.”

Fitz didn’t reply, he didn’t look up. He just sniffled quietly, his eyes filling with tears.

“Mate,” Hunter said quietly, rubbing Fitz’s shoulder with his thumb.

“We were going to go for dinner,” Fitz suddenly admitted, barely above a whisper.

Hunter’s lips parted in surprise.

“I made a reservation,” Fitz continued, staring at the screen in front of him, the image frozen on Simmons just before she was taken. “It’s been four days. I didn’t cancel it. I thought I’d find her by now. I thought I’d figure it out, but—”

Fitz looked up, his eyes tear-shot and pleading.

“You will, mate, you will,” Hunter reassured him.

Fitz tried to stifle a sob, wiping across his eyes with the heel of his hand.

“Listen, mate,” Hunter said, squeezing Fitz’s shoulder once more. “Keep the reservation. Call the restaurant and postpone it a week, and another week if you have to. Keep it. You’ll get your dinner.”

Fitz looked back up, his lips still quivering, before he nodded ever so slightly.


	4. Fourth Time: 3x06 “Among Us Hide…”

Hunter slowly walked up to where Fitz was sitting in the lab, looking at data from his portal simulations. “This a bad time?” he asked quietly, causing Fitz to turn around in surprise.

“Depends,” Fitz replied, looking at Hunter with a hint of skepticism and annoyance.

Hunter sighed. “Look, mate, I wanted to apologize for earlier.”

Fitz scoffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “You need to be more specific. It’s a long list.”

Hunter closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling another deep breath. “’Bout what I said about Will. How maybe you—”

“—should let an innocent man rot on an alien planet,” Fitz finished. “A man whom my best friend—whom she—”

Fitz bit his lower lip, seemingly unable to complete the sentence.

“You sure he’s an innocent man?” Hunter asked, carefully watching the engineer’s reaction.

Fitz smacked his right palm with his left fist. “Everything I found about him tells me so. Everything Simmons told me about him. I know it in my gut. He’s a good guy.”

Hunter raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, mate, you’re right. Saving Will is the right thing to do, but, take my advice, don’t throw in the towel.”

Fitz scoffed, once again leaning back in his chair and returning to his previous defensive position, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Seriously, listen, mate,” Hunter pointed at Fitz. “Maybe you’re blind to it, because you have the twisted notion that you’re not good enough for her, but I’ve seen the way she looks at you, and whatever she feels or felt for him, I don’t think it compares.”

Fitz looked back at him with questioning eyes.

“So, help bring him back,” Hunter continued. “It’s the right thing to do, but don’t assume it means an end to what you and Simmons could have.”


	5. Fifth Time: 5x05 “Rewind” [On the flight back to the Lighthouse after they’ve secured Enoch’s capsule]

Hunter looked up when Fitz entered the cockpit of the Zephyr, sitting down on the co-pilot’s seat.

“So, you’ve got a grand master plan then?” Hunter asked his friend.

Fitz adjusted his seat, his eyes fixed on the horizon. “Yep.”

“Want my advice?”

Fitz scoffed, looking at Hunter sideways. “Will you keep it to yourself if I say no?”

Hunter pointed at Fitz, not paying his snarky remark any heed. “When you find Simmons, you stop wasting time. Life’s too short, mate. You know what you want. So you’ll stop this bloody universe-wants-to-keep-you-apart nonsense and the whole you-don’t-deserve-her humptydumpty and be honest with yourself and her.”

Fitz crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring back outside the front window. “Don’t know what you mean,” he mumbled quietly.

“Bollocks,” Hunter exclaimed. “Listen mate, do you love her?”

“Yes,” Fitz replied, tears in his eyes.

“And do you want to spend the rest of your life with her?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell her that… as soon as you see her. Propose, and marry her, and have many, little genius babies and pray they get Simmons’ looks and not your ugly Scottish face.” He reached over, ruffling Fitz’s hair, and the engineer seemed unable to suppress an amused chuckle.

“You’re meant to be together,” Hunter added, more seriously. “Nothing will change that.”


	6. The One Time He Didn't: Post-5x22 “The End”

Hunter opened the door to his flat, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw Simmons.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” he exclaimed in disbelief, pointing past Simmons and towards the sky. “I sent Fitz off 80 years into the future like a frozen popsicle three weeks ago so he could find you. You can’t just be standing here in the present like that when he’s—”

“He did find us,” Simmons interrupted him, her voice quiet.

Hunter paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. “Oh, wait, so… you’re—”

“—back from the future,” the English scientist finished his sentence, a weak smile playing on her lips.

“And you saved the world and everything?” Hunter asked.

Simmons nodded ever so slightly. “Yes, yes we did.”

Hunter drew in an excited breath. “Bloody brilliant.”

Simmons chuckled weakly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Hunter furrowed his brow when he noticed a ring on her left hand.

“He took my advice.” Hunter waved his index finger excitedly at the piece of jewelry. “He proposed to you.”

Simmons’ lips pulled wide, though there was a strange tremor to her tone. “Yes, he did. Well, technically I proposed to him, though he insisted that he proposed first when I couldn’t hear him… it’s complicated.”

Hunter leaned forward, looking left and right past Simmons. “So, where is your beautiful husband-to-be then? Are you here to invite me to the wedding or—” He stopped when he noticed tears filling her eyes, and suddenly reality hit him and punched the air from his lungs.

“No,” he whispered in disbelief, blinking away tears. He pressed his lips into a thin line, clenching his jaw. “Bloody idiot. I told him not to die out there.”

A sound between a laugh and a sob escaped Simmons. “Well, see, Hunter,” she said, her voice wavering. “This is where it gets even more complicated, because… because even though the Fitz I proposed to—and I married actually—died, the one _you_ told not to die out there, is still on his way to find us in the future.”

Hunter looked at her in utter confusion. “What now?”

Simmons sniffled briefly, before clearing her throat. “It was a loop, Hunter. Who knows how long it went on. Who knows when it started. But we’d be sent to the future. Fitz would be left behind. You’d help break him out, find Enoch, send him to the future. He’d find us, we’d find a way back, but we’d be unable to stop Earth’s destruction. We’d live our lives, until our descendants in the future would use a fragment of the white monolith to fetch us from the past. And the loop would start all over again. Until now.”

Hunter bobbed his head as his mind slowly came to understand what had happened. “You saved Earth’s destruction and broke the loop.”

Simmons nodded in confirmation. “Yes, and Fitz—”

She exhaled a stuttering breath, unable to finish her sentence.

“—but you’re saying because—”

“—because you in this timeline sent Fitz to the future three weeks ago, and we returned with the Fitz from… from the previous loop so to speak—”

“—there’s a Fitz still out there,” Hunter concluded, quietly.

“Yes,” Simmons confirmed, forcing a smile. “And I’m hoping you can help me find him.”

Hunter pursed his lips, giving a single bob with his head. “Where do we start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ["A promise broken, a promise kept"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14761176) could kinda serve as a sequel to this.


End file.
